higher education
LA Connect helps students plan for college and careers
The LA Office of Student Financial Assistance has a new Louisiana Connect college access and career planning Web portal that assists students as they plan for college and/or careers. The free program also helps guidance counselors, parents, teachers and advisers assist students and can send students alerts on key milestones and deadlines for applications for colleges and scholarships. Full article.
Louisiana’s training programs designed to attract and retain future employees
The alarm first sounded about five years ago when oil and gas industry leaders realized that while energy demands rose, the availability of qualified workers declined. The LA Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association is working with LSU and the Governor's Workforce Investment Council to produce projections of workforce needs that can be shared with four-year universities and vocational technical schools to structure education and training. Full article.
Louisiana College earns honor
U.S. News & World Report recently recognized Louisiana College as being among the "Best Regional Colleges." In addition, American Registry has added Louisiana College to the "Registry of Business Excellence." Full article.
Roy O. Martin III appointed to LA Board of Regents
Governor Bobby Jindal recently announced the appointment of Roy O. Martin III to the Board of Regents, a state agency that coordinates all public higher education in Louisiana. Roy O. Martin III, of Alexandria, is the President and Chief Financial Officer for RoyOMartin, a family-owned, professionally managed forestry and wood-products manufacturing company. Full article.
Tunica-Biloxi Tribe: Think about education
The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe recently opened its new Cultural and Educational Resources Center in Marksville. Center director Earl Barbry Jr., indicated that education was a major focus in creating the center, and Northwestern State University (NSU) will offer graduate and undergraduate classes, starting in 2012. The 40,000-square-foot museum houses Tunica Treasures artifacts on display and will host traveling Native American and European artifacts. Full article.
LA College gets new student housing
LA College recently broke ground for an on-campus apartment-style housing project. The complex will feature 45 units in an apartment-style living facility, and is the second structure of a planned quadrangle of state-of-the-art student apartments. Full article.
Governance Commission suggestions to clarify higher education responsibility
The Governance Commission will present a set of 21 recommendations to State Legislators in January to clarify who is ultimately responsible for LA’s higher education. If adopted, the suggestions would make the Board of Regents the sole entity held accountable for higher education performance. Full article.
Panel seeks ways to educate more LA citizens
The Remedial Education Commission begins work on a process to find ways to get more of LA high school students ready to earn post-secondary degrees. New regulations going into effect late 2011 will not allow four-year universities to admit students that need remediation; students will go to a community or technical college to take classes to increase skills. Full article.
Central Louisiana students study energy conservation at Northwestern State
Northwestern State University recently held a session of Energy Camp Louisiana. The camp is designed to show area students the importance of energy efficiency and conservation, as well as introduce them to a variety of energy career pathways. Energy Camp Louisiana is a joint effort between regional intermediary CERT, the Consortium for Education, Research and Technology of North Louisiana, and platinum sponsors Encana Natural Gas and Shell, plus several additional sponsors. Full article.
Industrial training to help Cenla students' marketability
A group of Central LA educators is gathering this week to acquire training that will allow them to teach a new subject on industrial maintenance in high schools, which is designed to improve high school students' skills and employability out of high school. The training initiative is part of the Cenla Work Ready Network, a program of The Rapides and Orchard foundations in partnership with the LA Technical College in Alexandria. Full article.
